The present invention relates to a shift lever boot for a motor vehicle.
A shift lever for a motor vehicle with manual transmission is provided with a flexible shift lever boot. The shift lever is movable in two directions or in the cross and longitudinal directions of the motor vehicle, wherein the maximum angle of inclination is generally determined to be larger in the longitudinal direction than in the cross direction.
A shift lever boot of this type is disclosed, for example, in JP-U 59-19430. Referring to FIG. 4, this shift lever boot 30 includes a top face 36 having a hole 34 for a shift lever 32 and formed like concentric bellows with respect to the hole 34, and a skirt 38 continuously connected to edges of the top face 36 and formed like bellows. Such bellows-like construction allows excellent followability upon operation of the shift lever 32.
With the above shift lever boot 30, however, the top face 36 is formed like concentric bellows with respect to the shift lever hole 34, so that when the shift lever 32 gets the maximum angle of inclination in the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, the flexibility of the top face 36 becomes worse in the longitudinal direction than in the cross direction. Specifically, since the rigidity is locally increased in portions of the top face 36 where ridgelines of crests 40 and valleys 42 of the bellows are parallel with respect to the inclination of the shift lever 32, the flexibility of the top face 36 is degraded in the longitudinal direction where the shift lever 32 has larger maximum angle of inclination relative to in the cross direction where the shift lever 32 has smaller maximum angle of inclination. This may result in occurrence of a clearance between the shift lever hole 34 and the shift lever 32.
Referring to FIG. 5, air entering into the shift lever boot 30 from the clearance increases a volume of the shift lever boot 30, pushing the shift lever hole 34 upward as shown in FIG. 5. In this state, if the shift lever 32 is moved to the neutral position, the clearance between the shift lever hole 34 and the shift lever 32 disappears before fully evacuating air that entered into the shift lever boot 30. Specifically, each shift operation increases a volume of the shift lever boot 30, which moves the shift lever hole 34 upward. This may cause a buckling in a portion of the skirt 38 where the bellows is stretched as shown by a broken line C in FIG. 5, resulting in a possible fracture of the skirt 38 in this portion.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a shift lever boot for a motor vehicle that is free from the above inconvenience, and has improved durability.
A first aspect of the present invention lies in a boot adapted for a shift lever of a motor vehicle, wherein the shift lever is movable in cross and longitudinal directions of the motor vehicle, and wherein the boot comprises: a top face, the top face having a hole for the shift lever and edges, the top face being made of a material with flexibility, the top face having first and second portions with respect to the hole along the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle, each of the first and second portions (G1, G2) exclusively including a plurality of crests and a plurality of valleys linearly extending along the cross direction of the motor vehicle, all ridgelines of the crests and the valleys being parallel with respect to the cross direction of the motor vehicle; and a skirt continuously connected to the edges of the top face, the skirt being formed like bellows, the skirt being made of the material with flexibility.
A second aspect of the present invention resides in a boot for a shift lever of a motor vehicle, wherein the shift lever is movable in cross and longitudinal directions of the motor vehicle, and wherein the boot comprises: a top face, the top face having a hole for the shift lever and edges, the top face being made of a material with flexibility, the top face exclusively including a plurality of crests and a plurality of valleys, the crests and the valleys linearly extending along the cross direction of the motor vehicle, all ridgelines of the crests and the valleys being parallel with respect to the cross direction of the motor vehicle; and a skirt continuously connected to the edges of the top face, the skirt being formed like bellows, the skirt being made of the material with flexibility, wherein the top face is of the same thickness as that of the skirt.
A third aspect of the present invention resides in a boot for a shift lever of a motor vehicle, wherein the shift lever is movable in cross and longitudinal directions of the motor vehicle, and wherein the boot comprises: a top face, the top face having a hole for the shift lever and edges, the top face being made of a material with flexibility, the top face exclusively including a plurality of crests and a plurality of valleys, the crests and the valleys linearly extending along the cross direction of the motor vehicle, all ridgelines of the crests and the valleys being parallel with respect to the cross direction of the motor vehicle; and a skirt continuously connected to the edges of the top face, the skirt being formed like bellows, the skirt being made of the material with flexibility, wherein the top face is of a smaller thickness than that of the skirt.
A fourth aspect of the invention resides in a boot for enclosing a portion of an automotive gear shift lever, the boot comprising: a rectangular cross-sectional corrugated skirt; and a rectangular top face formed at an upper portion of the rectangular cross-sectional corrugated skirt, the top face having first and second groups (G1, G2) of straight corrugations which are all parallel to each other, and a hole arranged between the first and second groups and adapted for a gear shift lever to extend therethrough.